A Tibetan Buddhist monk has set himself on fire in western China in what appeared to be the latest such radical protest against Beijing's rule, a U.S. government-backed radio station and rights monitoring group said.

Traditional teahouses and fashion boutiques have sprung up in Bayi, one of the liveliest districts of Lhasa, and are owned and patronised by both Tibetans and Han Chinese. But some say increasing prosperity is just Beijing buying peace.

A group of leading rights organizations has awarded its annual prize for human rights defenders to imprisoned Chinese Muslim minority economics professor Ilham Tohti, shining new attention on a case that has brought strong international condemnation.

Police believe they have captured a serial killer dubbed China's "Jack the Ripper" for the way he mutilated several of his 11 female victims, state-run media reported Monday, nearly three decades after the first murder.

China has completed a monitoring scheme in restive Tibet that requires all telephone and internet users to register under their real names, state media said on Wednesday, as part of a campaign to crack down on what officials describe as rumors.